The young soccer teammates and their coach who were rescued after being trapped in a cave in northern Thailand had their heads shaved in a ceremony as they prepared to be ordained as Buddhist novices and monks.
Eleven of the 12 boys and their coach prayed to ancient relics and offered drinks and desserts in gilded bowls to spirits at a Buddhist temple.
The boys will be ordained to become Buddhist novices in a ceremony today, while the 25-year-old coach will be ordained as a monk, said Parchon Pratsakul, the governor of Chiang Rai province.
Buddhist males in Thailand are traditionally expected to enter the monkhood, often as novices, at some point in their lives to show gratitude, often toward their parents for raising them. It's believed that once a person is ordained they gain merit that is also extended to their parents.
"Ordinations are supposed to give us peace of mind," said Sangiemjit Wongsukchan, the mother of Ekarat Wongsukchan, 14, one of the boys who was trapped in the cave.
"We can only do this for nine days because then he will have to go back to study and prepare for exams. Back to his normal life."
Praphun Khomjoi, chief of Chiang Rai's Buddhism office, said the 12 to be ordained will dedicate their merit-generating act of entering the monkhood to a volunteer diver and former Thai navy SEAL, Samarn Gunan, who died while diving during a mission to supply the cave with oxygen tanks essential to helping the boys escape.
The 12 boys and their coach were released from a hospital last Wednesday, more than a week after they were rescued from the flooded cave. They became trapped on June 23 and were finally found by two British divers on July 2. They were brought out of the cave in a daring rescue mission that ended on July 10.
-PTC News
